Western Kentucky defensive coordinator Tyson Summers has been named a nominee for the 2024 Broyles Award, the Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation announced Tuesday.

The annual Broyles Award celebrates excellence in assistant coaching, and has been the premier award for college football’s top assistant coach since 1996. The award was founded by Frank Broyles and David Bazzel. The 65 nominees in this year’s class were selected from approximately 1,500 assistant coaches representing FBS programs across the country.

The Broyles Award selection process includes the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), broadcasters, a college football hall-of-fame selection committee and current college head coaches.

Summers is in his third season as WKU’s defensive coordinator and has helped the Hilltoppers to a 7-4 overall record and 5-2 mark in Conference USA play. WKU has the third-best scoring defense in CUSA at 22.6 points allowed per game, with just 20.6 points allowed per game in CUSA games.

WKU has been especially good in the red zone this season defensively, ranking first in CUSA and seventh nationally in the category. The Hilltoppers are second in the league and 25th in the country in turnovers gained, after being one of the top producers in takeaways during Summers’ first two seasons.

A selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, broadcasters and a committee representing the FWAA will select 15 semifinalists, five finalists from the list of nominees, and an overall winner. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Monday and finalists will be announced on Dec. 9. The winner will be announced on Feb. 13, 2025, at the Broyles Award ceremony at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

WKU will close out the regular season at home and celebrate senior day against Jax State on Saturday. Kickoff at Houchens-Smith Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.